ICEMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Iceman joins with the X-Men to stop Apocalypse and prevent the catastrophic culling of humankind in a harsh dystopian future.”

A jovial and somewhat silly character in the mainstream universe, the “Age of Apocalypse” universe made Iceman into a far more serious character, with a much more effective mastery over his powers.  Elements of this were first shown before AoA, when Bobby’s body was taken over by Emma Frost for a period of time, and were built on post-AoA when the mainstream Bobby decided to try to train more seriously with his abilities, but they got a very definite focus in AoA.  The AoA Iceman is not without toy treatment, but rarely in such an explicit fashion, at least until now.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman is figure 5 in the Colossus Series of Marvel Legends.  This marks the AoA version’s first time as a Legend, as well as the first time a figure has been actually labeled as an AoA Iceman, rather than just being inspired by him.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Iceman is a mix of old and new parts, at his core being built around the Bucky Cap base body.  The lower arms and legs are shared with the Juggernaut Series version of Iceman (who was actually built on the Pizza Spidey body, not Bucky Cap), and he gets a new torso, shoulders, and head.  While others in the set have been far more dialed-in on their specifically ’90s crossover designs, Iceman is notably based more on his more recent appearances, from the handful of revisits to the AoA universe.  It’s not a bad look, but it does mean he clashes ever so slightly with everything else we’ve gotten.  The biggest change is really the hair, which hung forward a little more on the earlier illustrations.  I personally would have preferred he stick a little more to the ’90s appearances, but this one translates well enough.  This release of Iceman is far bluer than the last couple of Legends releases, going for a rather dark shade that pretty closely matches the old “Muntant Armor” figure, which served as his ’90s AoA figure.  I can certainly dig that.  There’s some slight frost detailing airbrushed in a few places, which works out pretty well.  I do wish there were some of it on the face, again like the ’90s figure, but the overall application works nicely.  Iceman is packed with an alternate set of spikier hands, borrowed from Carnage, as well as the right arm to the Colossus figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

AoA Iceman’s not a major change-up from the standard in terms of design, but that actually gives his figure some extra appeal, since it means he’s got multiple purposes.  I’ve always liked the spikier Iceman look, so this one’s pretty cool.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a tweak on this mold that does the 616 version’s spiky look, but in the meantime, this one’s a pretty solid figure that does what he needs to, and adds a little more depth to the AoA display.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.